Carbon Landscape scheme receives £2m from Heritage Lottery Fund

4 April 2017

MUI's Joanne Tippett has been working alongside Lancashire Wildlife Trust and Wigan, Warrington and Salford Councils and for the past year, local residents have been consulted on the proposed work to revitalise places left decimated by their long history of coal mining and peat extraction.

The Carbon Landscape Project looks at the big picture of the landscape between Manchester and Wigan, seeking to create an ecological network that allows both people and nature to thrive.

The project explores how the landscape has been shaped by people’s engagement with industry from the start of the industrial revolution over 250 years ago. The collaborators are taking a step back and viewing the role of industry and it's impact and legacy and considering how human society fits in within the broader context of the Earth’s systems and the biosphere. With pioneering use of the RoundView, Joanne Tippett and colleagues are able to explore this bigger picture with communities and stakeholders. Local residents and stakeholders are invited to explore the future of the Carbon Landscape, developing their ideas for the landscape.

Bringing in these groups not only helps to ensure the project is fully informed of their needs but also helps to engage and motivate locals in the project, where so often communities may find themselves on the outside, unable to influence or affect changes happening on their doorstep.